Calendar causes a fuss at CMU

University denies role in Katrina fundraiser with 12 students in bikinis.

University denies role in Katrina fundraiser with 12 students in bikinis.

January 25, 2006

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) -- A racy calendar created by four students at Central Michigan University and featuring a dozen bikini-clad women who attend the school has no link to the university beyond the students who produced it and posed for its pages, a Central Michigan spokesman said. Ten percent of the gross sales of the "Girls of Central Michigan 2006" calendar will go to aid survivors of Hurricane Katrina, according to those behind it. The images for the wall calendar, which went on sale Jan. 9 and sells for $10, were photographed at locations in Mount Pleasant. It can be purchased online and in bookstores near campus. The cover depicts two swimsuit-clad women embracing. "We do not feel that this kind of publication serves the university well or the students," university spokesman Steve Smith told The Grand Rapids Press for a Monday story. He said Central Michigan consulted its lawyers but has no legal recourse because the calendar does not refer specifically to the school. Jeff Globish said he and three other students who created the calendar have "a great product" and that the response has been very positive. He dismissed Smith's criticism. When Danielle Couturier saw a newspaper advertisement recruiting models to pose in bikinis for a charity calendar, the Central Michigan student thought it would be a fun way to earn some extra cash. "I look at it as a volunteer opportunity, and I made $100 as well," said Couturier, 21, of Rockford. "One hundred dollars for a college kid is good stuff right there." She said she had no problem with people seeing her in a bathing suit.